A Linzertorte, originated in Linz, Austria, is basically a giant jam cookie with black currant jam filling, nutty pastry (usually hazelnut or almond) and a distinctive criscross design atop. Instead of using an usual jam, this recipe uses port wine stewed damsons to fill the crust, which I believe it tastes even better than the classic. If you can't find oval-shaped dark tannic damsons, use other types of plums.

Port Stewed Damsons

Short Crust

800 g Damson plums, pitted

100 g Sugar

60 g Butter

100 ml Port wine

30 ml Orange juice

50 ml Lemon juice

1 Cinnamon stick

200 g All purpose flour

200 g Ground almond

1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder

1 tbsp Lemon rind, finely grated

1/4 tsp Salt

150 g Sugar

200 g Cold butter, , cut into small pieces

1 Egg

Wash the plums and cut them in half to remove the pits. Add sugar and butter in a pan. Cook the mixture until caramelized. Pour in port wine, orange juice and lemon juice. Add in damson plums and cinnamon stick. Cook the mixture over the medium heat, stirring constantly, until you have a thick paste, 35-40 minutes. Remove and allow it to cool.

To prepare the crust by mixing all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add in butter and egg. Using your fingertips, mix all the ingredients together. Shape into a ball and wrap with a plastic film and chill at least for 2 hours.

Line a 30x20 cm baking pan with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough until it’s 3-4mm thick. Cut out a rectangular to fit into the baking pan, lightly press the dough about 2 cm up the sides of the pan. Prick the bottom a few times with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes. Wrap the rest of the dough in a plastic wrap and chill until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Roll the rest of the dough between two sheets of wax paper into 3-4mm thick piece. Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut it into 1cm wide strips, then freeze strips 5 minutes.

Spoon the prepared damson paste onto the bottom of the crust-lined baking pan, then arrange half of the strips 1 inch apart across stewed damsons. Arrange remaining strips diagonally across first strips to form a lattice. Bake on the second rack from the bottom for 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes, then remove and completely. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

I gasped when I saw this post! It looks so unbelievable. I wusd to eat Linzer cookies in New York all the time but never see them in San Francisco. My favorite were dusted with confectioners sugar. You'd cough as you gobbled them down. So good! I think this looks divine!

As you might have noticed if you passed by my blog recently I am a big fan of jam cakes and cookies (not to mention hazelnuts). I have never tasted Linzertorte, but it's quite famous since I have heard about it several times and never have been to Austria.

hi angie of chef angie... this looks damn good. you have beautiful photos and described your recipe so well, that i must give it a try like your Robert frost quote "Cant cook and will".. love those multi-fruits and nuts taste-- simply yummy

Hmm.. this looks exactly like the tart I used to eat at a small European cafe in Istanbul. I think it has somewhat Austrian name. I enjoyed every bite. I am putting this on the list to bring back memories :)

simply wonderful. so incredibly healthier than the original recipe and there is so much fruit in it that I would probably devour the all thing. this tart is a must try for me (although I may have to go for other less interesting plums here in Sweden). and the photography in this post is just amazing.

As always, any thoughts, comments, and suggestions that you may have are welcome and greatly appreciated. Please remember to use the "Name/Url" when commenting rather than linking to your profile page for more exposure!